Working as hard as I can!!! More to come soon!
Matters to consider before staring the work
safety comes always first, at least that is how it should be!
If you really don't have a clue, than for sanities sake go and find somebody that does.
I have been in many workshops, and even houses, I couldn't wait to get out of, just because of the "artwork" done with the wiring. These places defy the laws of physics in that they should have burnt down long ago, or at least have killed on of the residents.
In this one area, it really pays, to let go of the natural tightfisted attitude that comes as a second nature to the technically inclined personality most of us have.
Switches, that are a hundred years old, have no place in an installation of a workshop today.
Nor does old wire!! I have seen installations, executed with recycled wire from old buildings, this is a sure way to bedlam and disaster.
The things we need to make a simple and safe electricity network in our shop are relatively cheap, so do not cut corners!
If the shop is away from the house, like it is in most cases, and it is fed from the mains, as is also common practice, I favor a circuit that can be cut from within the domestic dwelling.
This is quite simple.
Consider a mono phase circuit.
A switch, not a light switch, but a genuine "decoupler" is installed in convenient place (say near the back door).
This witch is fed from the fusebox, but it is allowed to pass trough a differential switch.
These differential switches have a cut off loss of 30 Milli amps, for outside circuits.
this might vary country to country, but this is safe practice.
After it passes through the differential switch, you can have it pass through an automatic fuse.
From the decoupler near the back door, you need to pull a cable to the workshop.
If you are not familiar with this kind of work, then explain to your supplier, what it is for, and what you intend to feed through this cable.
If he exaggerates and sells you " a size up of what you really need, than consider yourself lucky, for "big is better" in this case.
Click to enlarge
In the UK, the wall sockets usually have fuses in them, but there is a lot to be said for a small marshaling cabinet in the workshop, that has automatic fuses in it.
It will permit you, to have the odd "short" when "playing with transformers or the like", without having to go hunting for those bitty glass fuses!
I have foreseen one automatic (pair off) fuse per socket group, and a separate one for the light circuit.
In case you have a multiphase power supply, the story is really not so much more complicated. All that goes for the two wire system, goes for the three and four wire systems too.
It all depends, on which one you have available. Of course you will need the correct fuses and differential switches, also the "back door" switch will have to be of the right sort.
And your cable will cost substantially more then a two wire one!
The best advice on this is, read up on it! In the "Workshop Practice series" there are some really good titles, on this subject.
If you can't get your head around this, feel free to send me a mail, and I will help where I can.